California Jury Instructoinis
Directory of Opinions
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102. Note-Taking

You have been given notebooks and may take notes during the trial. Do not remove them from the courtroom. You may take your notes into the jury room during deliberations. I do not mean to discourage you from taking notes, but here are some points to consider if you take notes:

        1. Note-taking may tend to distract you. It may affect your ability to listen carefully to all the
        testimony and to    watch the witnesses as they testify;

        AND

       2. The notes are for your own individual use to help you remember what happened during the trial.
       Please keep in mind that your notes may be inaccurate or incomplete.

At the end of the trial, your notes will be (collected and destroyed/ collected and retained by the court but not as a part of the case record/            <specify other disposition>).

New January 2006; Revised June 2007, April 2008

BENCH NOTES

Instructional Duty
The court has a sua sponte duty to instruct the members of the jury that they may take notes. California Rules of Court, Rule 2.1031.

The court may specify its preferred disposition of the notes after trial. No statute or rule of court requires any particular disposition.

AUTHORITY

•           Resolving Jurors' Questions. Pen. Code, § 1137.

•           Jurors' Use of Notes. California Rules of Court, Rule 2.1031

Secondary Sources
6 Witkin & Epstein, California Criminal Law (3d ed. 2000) Criminal Judgment, § 18.

4 Millman, Sevilla & Tarlow, California Criminal Defense Practice, Ch. 85, Submission to Jury and Verdict, § 85.05[2] (Matthew Bender).

9.         

Copyright 2008 Judicial Council of California.